- WorldYahoo News
Mike Pence amends claim that 'ISIS has been defeated' following deadly attack on U.S. troops
Vice President Mike Pence issued a statement Wednesday that sought to clarify remarks he delivered earlier in the day in which he claimed that “ISIS has been defeated” — several hours after the radical Islamic group set off a bomb that killed at least two U.S. service members and two American civilians in Syria. In a speech at the U.S. State Department Wednesday morning, Pence credited President Trump and the U.S. military with vanquishing Islamic State terrorists in Syria. “Thanks to the leadership of this commander in chief and the courage and sacrifice of our armed forces, we are now actually able to begin to hand off the fight against ISIS in Syria to our coalition partners,” Pence said, “And we are bringing our troops home.
NewsAssociated PressAmerican anchor for Iranian TV is arrested on visit to US
A prominent American anchorwoman on Iranian state television has been arrested by the FBI during a visit to the U.S., the broadcaster reported Wednesday, and her son said she was being held in a prison, apparently as a material witness. Marzieh Hashemi, who worked for the network's English-language service, was detained in St. Louis, where she had filmed a Black Lives Matter documentary after visiting relatives in the New Orleans area. The FBI said in an email that it had no comment on the arrest of the woman who was born Melanie Franklin in New Orleans and has worked for Iran's state television network for 25 years.
- WorldReuters
Brexit deal defeat makes 'softer, later' exit more likely: Goldman Sachs
A vote in Britain's parliament on Tuesday crushing Prime Minister May's deal to leave the European Union has made a softer, later Brexit, or even no Brexit at all, slightly more likely, Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday. quot;We think the prospect of a disorderly 'no deal' Brexit has faded further," Goldman Sachs' European economist Adrian Paul wrote in a note. The bank maintains its base case scenario that "a close variant" of the current Brexit deal will ultimately command a majority in the House of Commons.
- BusinessCar and Driver
An All-Electric Ford F-150 Pickup Truck Is Happening
Numerous startup automakers, among them Rivian and Tesla, have promised fully electric pickup trucks in the near future, and now the leading pickup-truck producer in the United States says it's getting into the game. Ford president Jim Farley told investors on January 16 that a battery-electric version of the F-150 (illustrated above) is in the cards, and a Ford spokesperson has confirmed to C/D that this is the case. Depending on when it arrives, the electric F-150 could be the first pickup of its kind to go on sale in America; Rivian says it will start delivering its R1T pickup here in "late 2020" and Tesla head Elon Musk said the company "might" reveal its electric truck sometime in 2019.
- WorldBloomberg
U.S. Calls Canadian's Death Sentence in China 'Politically Motivated'
The U.S. State Department said a death sentence issued to a Canadian this week in China was a political decision, with Justin Trudeau's top diplomat calling the detention of two other men a threat to all nations. Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland, speaking to reporters near Montreal, said Canada is in a “difficult moment” after the arrest of a top Huawei Technologies Co. executive last month in Vancouver on a U.S. extradition request. Nine days after that, a Canadian diplomat and a businessman were seized separately by state security officers in China.
- WorldThe Telegraph
Kenya attack: At least six killed in Nairobi hotel complex terror siege
Islamist terrorists detonated explosives and fired automatic weapons as they mounted a deadly attack on a hotel and business complex frequented by Westerners in Nairobi on Tuesday. Six people have been confirmed killed in the attack, while a Kenyan police officer told reporters 15 bodies had been taken to the mortuary. A mortuary worker added that identification papers indicated that 11 were Kenyan, one was American and one was British, while the other two did not have documents on them.
- ScienceAccuWeather
Venus-Jupiter conjunction: Set your alarm for this celestial meet-up on Tuesday morning
Jupiter and Venus will shine bright together before dawn on Tuesday in an astronomical event known as a conjunction. "A conjunction is a celestial event in which two planets or a planet and the moon or a planet and a star appear close together in the night sky," according to the NASA website. Close encounters of Jupiter and Venus in the sky occur on a fairly regular basis, most recently happening on Nov. 13, 2017.
- NewsUSA TODAY
'Blockbuster' storm heads east, could drop 40 inches of snow. Then an Arctic blast will freeze 200 million
After hammering California with rain and snow, a 'blockbuster' winter storm is taking aim on the East, where as much as 40 inches of snow could fall over the weekend. Road travel may become "impossible" due to the heavy snow; flight delays and cancellations are also likely. After the storm heads offshore on Sunday, the intense cold will be the main weather story as bitterly cold air straight from the Arctic will roar in, bringing below-freezing temperatures to 200 million Americans.
- PoliticsThe Independent
US air traffic controllers say system 'eroding' beneath them due to government shutdown
Federal air traffic controllers have warned that the government shutdown is going to make travel delays worse given its dwindling workforce, which has already suffered from record low employment rates in recent years. With the federal closure well into its fourth week, officials with the National Air Traffic Controllers Association (Natca) say that dysfunction in Washington is causing undue stress for their members who already have precious little room for error in their jobs. Without money coming in, air traffic controllers who have been required to come to work and oversee the delicate dance between planes as they take off, land, and taxi at high speeds must now also worry about whether they have money to pay for their mortgages and child care payments.
- NewsYahoo News
Tulsi Gabbard apologizes, again, for past antigay views
One week after her 2020 presidential rollout, the campaign of Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, has hit a pothole. Gabbard issued an apology Thursday for antigay views she expressed in the past, attributing them to her conservative upbringing. “In my past, I said and believed things that were wrong,” said Gabbard, who represents Hawaii's second district in the U.S. House of Representatives.
- U.S.WLS – Chicago
Illinois parents get 25 years in death of boy, 6, who weighed 17 pounds when he died
An Illinois father and stepmother will spend decades in prison in the starvation death of their 6-year-old son, who authorities say weighed just 17 pounds when he died.
- BusinessCar and Driver
A Look at the 2020 BMW 7-series
The BMW flagship sedan also gets revised engines and plenty of new tech. From Car and Driver
WorldAFP'Humiliated': World media react to British PM's Brexit defeat
Britain is in "uncharted waters" after Prime Minister Theresa May was "humiliated" by the "crushing defeat" of her Brexit deal in parliament, according to scathing reactions in the British and world press on Wednesday. Here are some of the responses: - 'Brextinct' - "May's Brexit deal dead as a dodo", Britain's biggest-selling newspaper The Sun said, with a mock-up picture of the PM as the extinct flightless bird, under the front page headline "Brextinct". The Daily Telegraph's front page read: "A complete humiliation".
WorldAssociated PressTaiwan holds live-fire exercises following China threats
Taiwan held live-fire exercises along its east coast Thursday amid renewed threats from China to bring the island under its control by force if deemed necessary. Artillery and assault helicopters fired at targets off the west coast city of Taichung, while French-made Mirage fighter jets took off amid rainy conditions from the air base at Hsinchu to the north. The drills are Taiwan's first since Chinese President Xi Jinping on Jan. 2 reasserted Beijing's willingness to use military force to bring self-ruling Taiwan under Chinese control.
WorldAFPSniffer dogs, bomb experts comb through Kenya attack site
Kenyan police aided by bomb experts and sniffer dogs on Thursday resumed their search of the Nairobi hotel complex struck by Islamists as police arrested nine more suspects over the attack which left 21 dead and 28 injured. A police source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they were confident there were no more people trapped inside the hotel or surrounding office buildings after the 20-hour assault unleashed on Tuesday, during which some 700 civilians were rescued. "We are confident that we have no more people there," the officer told AFP, "but in a situation like this, you are not done until you are done."
- PoliticsBloomberg
Senate Advances Measure to Keep Sanctions on Deripaska Units
The Senate advanced a resolution to block the Treasury Department from lifting sanctions on three Russian companies linked to oligarch Oleg Deripaska, with 11 Republicans aiding Democrats in a rare split with President Donald Trump. The 57-42 vote to take up the measure Tuesday came shortly after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin lobbied GOP senators at the Capitol and indicated he's not backing down from his plan to lift sanctions against three companies Deripaska controls: United Co. Rusal, En+ Group Plc and EuroSibEnergo JSC.
- NewsAccuWeather
Break in Pacific storms for California to aid mudslide, damage cleanup
A much-needed break from the storms touting inches of rain and feet of snow will begin in some areas on Friday and expand to much of the Pacific coast by next week. The upcoming dry weather will allow streams to recede to within their banks and cleanup to accelerate after mudslides and damage. The dry weather will also give travelers a break from wintry conditions over the mountains, while at the same time, ski resorts can expect business to be booming.
WorldReutersBackstop 'means to an end' of avoiding hard border: Irish PM
Ireland's prime minister pledged to defend the contentious Brexit "backstop" but said it was important to remember that the insurance mechanism was a means to an end of avoiding the return of a hard customs border on the island of Ireland. The Brexit divorce deal was resoundingly defeated by British lawmakers on Tuesday, with much of the opposition centered on the "backstop" requirement for the British province of Northern Ireland to stay closely aligned to EU rules to eliminate the need for border checks with EU member Ireland. The Irish government joined the European Union's executive in insisting that the divorce deal with the bloc was not open for renegotiation and urged London to come up with solutions that both they and the European Union can accept.
PoliticsYahoo NewsSteve King faces increasing pressure to resign after 'white supremacy' remarks
Rep. Steve King's base of support, including in his home state of Iowa, continues to erode after comments he made appearing to praise white supremacy were published in the New York Times. The latest salvo came as the Sioux City Journal, a conservative newspaper in Iowa's Fourth District that had previously endorsed the Republican congressman, called on him to resign. “It's hard for us to summon words that will properly convey how repugnant we view that remark,” said the paper in response to King asking, “White nationalist, white supremacist, Western civilization — how did that language become offensive?” earlier this month.
BusinessUSA TODAYSouthwest Airlines flights canceled, delayed due to computer issue in Baltimore
A four-hour Southwest Airlines computer glitch on Tuesday caused delays and cancellations for passengers traveling to and from Baltimore/Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The exact number of delayed and canceled flights isn't clear, though 37 Southwest flights were canceled leaving the airport Tuesday out of 174 scheduled. It's also not yet clear what caused the four-hour glitch between 10 a.m.
- WorldThe Independent
Enes Kanter: Turkey 'seeking arrest' of New York Knicks player
Turkish prosecutors are seeking the arrest and extradition of New York Knicks enter Enes Kanter, accusing him pf being a member of an "armed terrorist group". Mr Kanter is accused of ties to Fethullah Gulen, who Turkish authorities allege is behind the failed coup against President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in 2016, the Daily Sabah reported. Mr Gulen has repeatedly denied any involved in the failed coup.
- WorldAssociated Press
Burkina Faso: Body of Canadian found days after abduction
A Canadian national has been found dead a day after reports of his kidnapping by suspected jihadists in Burkina Faso's volatile north near the Niger border, the West African nation's security ministry said Thursday. The ministry said Kirk Woodman's body was found 100 kilometers (62 miles) from the site where he worked for Progress Mineral Mining Company. Woodman's son, Matt Woodman, emailed The Associated Press confirming his father's death.
- BusinessConsumer Reports
Netflix Price Hike Points to the Changing Math of Cord Cutting
Netflix is planning to boost prices for all of its monthly streaming video plans, and analysts say consumers should expect future price hikes from both Netflix and most other streaming services. The price increase is Netflix's first since 2017 and its biggest ever. We change pricing from time to time as we continue investing in great entertainment and improving the overall Netflix experience,” a Netflix spokesperson told Consumer Reports in an email.
WorldAFPAmerican killed in Kenya attack was 9/11 survivor
The American man who was among the 21 people killed in an attack on a luxury hotel complex in the Kenyan capital Nairobi was a consultant who survived the 9/11 attacks, and specialized in emerging economies. Authorities did not formally name Jason Spindler as one of the victims, but his mother Sarah and brother Jonathan confirmed his death on Facebook and to several US media outlets. "It's with a heavy heart that I have to report that my brother, Jason Spindler, passed this morning during a terror attack in Nairobi," Jonathan wrote on Facebook, in comments visible only to his friends.
- WorldBloomberg
May Wins Confidence Vote and Opens Cross-Party Brexit Talks
U.K. leader Theresa May survived an attempt to oust her government and immediately opened talks with rival political parties in an attempt to break the Brexit deadlock, as time runs out to reach a deal. The prime minister fought off the threat of a national election and won the right to continue running the country when the House of Commons voted 325 to 306 against a motion of “no confidence” in her administration. May invited other party leaders, who back keeping much closer ties to the European Union, for talks tonight to discuss how to forge a compromise Brexit plan that Parliament can support.
